Here's Gordon Newton's position. He's the festival director. Most of the paragraphing and punctuation is his!

I'll post my reply to him tomorrow with luck.

Date: 10/7/2001.

Dear Richard, Rochester Sweeps Festival 2001.

Thank you for your letter dated 31 May 200 1, which was passed on to me by Sue Jaycock, the Events Officer at Medway Council responsible for co-ordinating the 2001 Sweeps Festival. I must apologise for not replying to it earlier due mainly to business pressures and an extended business visit to the Middle and Far East from which 1 returned last Thursday.

I am sorry to hear that you did not enjoy the Festival this year. As a matter of policy, we do take views of a wide variety of the public in to consideration when we plan the event each year. It is true that we do ring changes into each event and have steadily increased the profile of the event into one of the top folk festivals in Europe by doing so. When selecting performers to appear at the festival, there is a wealth of talent to choose from. I think it is fair to say that we have blended local talent with top line performers to achieve a good balance. It is a fact that audiences are much more sophisticated than those of 20 years ago. Many folk performers have become more professional in their presentation and have therefore much more appeal to a wider audience with folk interests. At 'Sweeps' we have found that to grow the event to its present size we have had to cater for all groups of musical interest including those who are multi-cultural.

In doing so, the Festival has changed from what it was by natural progression and has kept up with the changing times.

For instance, last year we packed Rochester Cathedral with the Classical Chart topping group, the Medieval Baebes supported by John Kirkpatrick. What a wonderful concert! It did not appeal to everyone but we managed to bridge the Folk Classical music gap.

We had visitors who would not normally attend a folk festival and were introduced to a different type of music. This year, we centred our evening Folk Clubs at the Fort Pitt Grammar School and featured 'Cockersdale' and the winner of BBC Radio 2 best up and coming folk performer, Bill Jones, plus a host of other performers.

Our Boley Hill stage was again well used and featured the West End cast of 'Buddy'. Who can deny the influence of Buddy Holly on the music world? What a superb 'live' performance by very talented musicians?

In addition to the above, we also featured one of the most traditional of English Ceilidh Bands, 'The Old Swan Band' at the school who provided a superb performance under the direction of caller Dave Hunt. At the Corn Exchange we featured E2K who are appearing at most of the major festivals in Britain this year.

I believe our choice of performers is very much ahead of most folk festivals in the UK. We have always prided ourselves on selecting a good mixture of established folk performers and new talent, blending them together to provide a balanced mix. There is provision at the festival for every type of audience for instance; The traditional type of folk sing-around is hosted by Bob and Kathy Drage at various un-amplified venues including the Auditorium of the Visitor information Centre, The Gordon Hotel with John Matthews and the Great Expectations Bar with John Smedley all of whom are well known throughout Kent for their high standard sing-arounds. Morris Musicians play un-amplified music at Ye Arrow and The Man of Kent which is where a large number gather to partake of real ale and meet to exchange tunes.

As Festival Director, I took a policy decision to reduce the number of Morris Dance teams invited to perform at the festival and have concentrated on quality not quantity. We also do not encourage the 'busking fringe' musicians who used to play on the streets and referred to in your letter, as they used to 'gate crash' venues which had been assigned to dance teams and became abusive when they were asked politely to move on. Only teams who are personally known to me and I have seen their performances are invited to participate in the Sweeps Festival. You must also remember that Morris teams who visit Sweeps come because they want to and are not 'booked' or paid to appear. If they cannot attend at the last minute there is usually a very good reason. The only 'booked' band to my knowledge, which failed to appear were Pavilion Noir from France who were affected by illness.

You may be interested to know that a 'straw pole' of the traders in Rochester, confirmed that their sales were up which would indicate to me that the number of visitors to the festival had increased as it has steadily since I started the event in 1980. Visitors come to the festival from all parts of the world and from throughout the UK. It never ceases to amaze me that they come to take part in what I started as a 'hobby' all those years ago and what is now acknowledged to be the largest Morris dance festival in the world and the largest traditional May Festival in Europe!

It is very easy to look at the negative aspects of what has become a very large event, but, Doug Hudson the song director, Medway Council and myself do concentrate on what appeals to the wider audience but yet provide entertainment for minority interest groups at the same type. I believe that the structure of the present day festival does just that which is why we believe that 'Sweeps' is known throughout Britain as 'The Friendly Festival'. One point worth mentioning is that most of the entertainment at the Festival is provided free of charge. In conclusion, I have enclosed an article from the last edition of Folk-in-Kent, which you may not have seen. I hope that you find an alternative view of the festival of interest. Rest assured, however, that your views will be taken into consideration when we plan the 2002 Festival as you have highlighted some points of concern which will be examined. 1 have enclosed one of our free distribution programmes for the 2001 Sweeps Festival for your reference. Assuring you of my closest attention at all times, I remain,………….